


Sleep A While

by SaraJaye



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Protective Katara, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-26
Updated: 2014-08-26
Packaged: 2018-02-14 20:21:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2201817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She refuses to leave his side for anything, even to rest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleep A While

**Author's Note:**

> _Avatar the Last Airbender, Katara/Toph/Sokka, Keeping warm on a cold night_

It's been almost a month since Ba Sing Se fell, and Aang still hasn't woken up. She heals him, she watches him sleep, she holds his hand and wonders how deep his sleep is. Does he know she's there? Does he dream? Is the Avatar Spirit safe?

He's alive, though. She feels his heartbeat, his pulse, even if nothing can wake him he's alive.

She can't sleep most nights, and when she does it's not comfortable; she always ends up with a stiff back from sitting up, or a crick in her neck. When she does dare to lie down beside him she clings to his hand as if someone might take him from her.

One night, Toph and Sokka come to drag her away. She's not sleeping enough and it's too cold to stay in the sick bay, Sokka says, and Toph pretends not to care. She can't leave Aang, she protests, but in the end she's tired and lonely and they take her back to Toph's room.

It's cold tonight, even over Fire Nation waters, and it's warm between them. Her brother, her friend, two more people who mean the world to her. And she realizes she's been selfish; they need her as much as Aang does. The rest of the group needs her, and she's no good to them if she's exhausting herself.

"Thank you," she whispers, and they nestle closer. She doesn't feel the cold anymore, and soon she closes her eyes, letting exhaustion claim her.


End file.
